Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Let There Be Light


I was sitting here minding my own business. The ballgame was on television and for a change the Tigers were winning. My son was resting in his room.

Suddenly there was a quick flash of light outside. The television screen went black. The lights dimmed.

There was still sound on the TV and I was afraid to turn it off for fear it would not come back on. I wanted to hear the end of the game. I could not check the score on my computer because the internet was not working.

My son came from his room. He said, "We're having a brown-out." I knew that. We waited to see if the problem would fix itself. It did not.

I was going to make spaghetti for supper. With no lights (or very little) in the kitchen I could not see to cook. We decided to take a run into a bigger city for fast food.

As we walked out to get into the truck the woman across the street came out of her house. She said that the whole town was without power but the electric company was on its way.

She lives with her son but he was out for the afternoon with friends. I asked her if she was okay. She was. Did she need anything? She did not. After I was sure that she just wanted to be the one to tell someone about the news we left.

As we were driving toward the highway we met a man who was towing the remains of a tree he had cut down behind his pickup. I told my son he was trying to remove the evidence that he was the cause of all this. We laughed.

It was a bit over an hour when we returned home. It is a long drive to get fast food here. There was no power at all.

My son went to his room before he sat down to eat. He was halfway there and the lights came on. Yay!!

The satellite dish had to reset the receiver before we could see if the TV was damaged. Thankfully it was fine.

There was a replay of the ballgame that night so I was able to see the end. Yay again.

We use CFL light bulbs to conserve energy. Unfortunately they do not adapt well to power outages. We had to replace several of them. That means we will have to replace them the net time we go to the store.

And I hate having to reset my alarm clock. The wall clock is battery operated so it needed no attention. And the telephone flashes after a power outage until an incoming call. So I had to have my son call me using his cell phone.

All in all it was an exciting day in my mundane life.

Oh by the way, the problem was not the man who cut down his tree. Whatever it was I saw the repair crew coming back from the opposite direction.

15 comments:

  1. I like to watch baseball with devoted fans. When I was in KC everyone high fived each other for runs and clapped.I have a triple A team not far away and need to get over for a game.

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    1. My children and grandchildren laugh at me. I tend to scream at the TV while I am watching the game.

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  2. Good you got the power back so quickly. We are so dependent on the power, it is scary to think what would happen if we lost it for any length of time.

    Have a great weekend.

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    1. It is true how much we depend on power. I often lived without it as a child so I know I can. But I would rather have it.

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  3. We lost power last night, in a big storm, after midnight. It was off about three hours. I didn't miss it.

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    1. As long as the weather is warm enough the power can be off for a time. The blower for the furnace, the blower for the wood stove, and the small space heaters we have in case all operate on electricity. It can be cold during the winter.

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  4. Dear Emma, that was truly an exciting evening! When power is cut off, we are reminded how depending we are - and taking it for guaranteed...
    (I always have some candles in a drawer, just in case).

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    1. I have a couple of battery operated lanterns for an occasion like this. I just did not feel safe using them to see while I cook. It was a good excuse for a ride anyway.

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  5. The worst thing of losing power, not having air conditioning and not having the TV! Man, I gotta have TV, must drown out the loud neighbors, don't you know! :-)

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    1. My neighbors are quiet so that is not a problem. The air conditioner was something I did not consider because it was a moderate day. I do like my air conditioner.

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  6. I found an alarm clock with a battery backup. It was not expensive.

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  7. I found an alarm clock with a battery backup. It was not expensive.

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    1. I have a wind-up alarm clock but I like the electric alarm because I can see the time in the dark.

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